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World History Unit 6:
Renaissance and Reformation in
Europe
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Renaissance
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• Rebirth of European learning and science
• Rediscovery of Greco-roman ideas
• Starts in the northern Italian city states
because of the money from the spice trade
• Mostly an artistic movement in southern
Europe (Italy)
• Mostly a literary movement in northern
Europe (England)
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Humanism
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• Really an old idea from Ancient Greece and Rome
• Based on the Socratic and Platonic ideas of
observation and reasoning
• Idea that man, not God, was the center of the
universe
• Man controls his own destiny
• Man can learn about and understand his world by
observation and reason without God’s help
• Helped spark a new age of secular learning and the
development of early modern schools and
universities such as Oxford and Cambridge
• Led many to question both governments and the
institutional Church
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Spices and Northern Italy
• Exclusive contracts in the spice
trade brought riches to the
different Italian city states
• Venice, Genoa and Florence were
the wealthiest and most important
• Europeans craved spices
▫ Covered the taste of bad meat
▫ Used for medicinal purposes
▫ No refrigeration: food went bad
quickly
• Arabs controlled the trade coming
from Asia
▫ Muslim trade routes ran through
Egypt to Mecca and out to India
and Indonesia
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Map of Spice Routes from Asia
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City States and Kingdoms of Italy (1494)
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Northern Italian Renaissance
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• Spices brought money
• Different cities signed exclusive contracts with Arab spice
merchants
• Italian City States began to compete against each other for
prestige, beauty and knowledge
• Venice – city of merchants run by the “Doge” (an elected
official)
• Florence – run by the Medici family (a very powerful banking
family with considerable influence over the papacy)
• mostly an artistic movement (rediscovery of Greco-Roman 3Dimensional ideas)
• Today these cities are like outdoor museums – even the
buildings themselves are works of art, not to mention the
priceless pieces of art contained within them
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Great Italian Artists of the Renaissance
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• Leonardo da Vinci
• Michelangelo
• Donatello
• Raphael
Leonardo Da Vinci
• Inventor, scientist and
artist who applied GrecoRoman ideas of science
and math to the world
around him
• Famous for his drawings,
sculptures and paintings
• Came up with “modern”
machines such as the
helicopter and glider
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Michelangelo
• Greatest and most well
known Renaissance artist
• Sculptor first – painter
second
• Worked all over Italy, but
especially in Florence and
Rome (the Vatican)
• Lived to be 90 years old
and worked up to the end –
that allowed him to produce
an immense volume of
work
• Some of the most famous
sculptures and paintings in
the world are his
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Donatello
Early renaissance artist
(before the other masters)
One of the first to
rediscover the GrecoRoman 3-D form
Worked in Florence and
the surrounding area – his
sculptures are found
throughout the city
David (seen here) – first
free standing nude since
ancient times – first major
Renaissance sculpture (in
bronze – 1430)
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Raphael
• Worked in
Florence and
Rome – studied
the works of
Leonardo and
Michelangelo
• Greatest artist of
the late
renaissance
period (16th
century)
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Northern Italian Art
• Some of the most famous
art in the world is found
within the cities of
Northern Italy
• Like walking through a
museum – around every
corner is another
recognizable piece of art
or architecture
• Even the buildings
themselves are pieces of
art – many were designed
by renaissance artists
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Machiavelli
Northern Italy’s Literary Genius of the Renaissance
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• Florentine writer, politician and historian
• Many different types of writings – novels, plays and other works
• The Prince (written in 1513 – published in 1532)
▫ Written as a message to the Medici family, for whom Machiavelli
worked as an advisor
▫ Book is a critique of how a ruler should treat his people
▫ He believed that it is better to be feared than loved as a ruler
 If a ruler is loved – people can turn on him if they disagree
 If a ruler is feared – the people will never rise up against him
▫ Machiavelli considered the mass of people to be ignorant and
unworthy of political rights
▫ A government’s job was to create a sense of order and stability
▫ One of the most famous books on political theories in history – still
read widely today
▫ Used by many rulers since the 16th century to justify brutality and
oppressive regimes
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William Shakespeare
• English Renaissance playwright and
author
• Rediscovered old Greco-Roman themes
in literature and drama and brought
them into the “modern age”
• Many of his plays are simply old
stories with “modern” characters
(modern to his time) – that’s why they
are still read today – the themes are
timeless
• Globe Theatre – brought plays to the
masses
▫ Romeo and Juliet
▫ Hamlet
▫ Julius Caesar
▫ Othello
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Roman Renaissance
• Outgrowth of the Italian
renaissance
• Popes had the most money
and could afford to pay for
the best artists –
Michelangelo is perhaps the
most important
• If the Church needed money,
it just had to issue a special
indulgence for the building of
St. Peter’s or anything else
(spices were unnecessary)
• Millions of pounds of gold
flowed into Rome
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Protestant
Reformation
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“Protestant” Reformation
• Reformation – a reform movement
• Protestant – one who protests
• Protestant Reformation – reform
movement outside the Catholic
Church
• Catholic (Counter) Reformation –
reform movement inside the Catholic
Church
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Late Medieval / Renaissance Church
• Bad Popes – many of them corrupt and under the control of
wealthy families, especially in Florence and other Italian city
states
• Some popes had mistresses and illegitimate children – one ran
a brothel (John XII) from inside the Vatican (10th century)
• Church had lost touch with ordinary Christians
• Church used its power and authority to keep the people
ignorant and illiterate – people couldn’t think for themselves
• Indulgences – money is flowing to Rome – people will give
everything they have in the hope of reaching Heaven – Church
taught that salvation could only be achieved INSIDE THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
• Worship of “relics” was out of control – people paid to see
everything from the bones of saints to pieces of the cross
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Martin Luther:
Who was he?
• Monk and religious scholar
from the German lands
(Saxony)
• Trained in the law before going
into the seminary – understands
legal arguments and the use of
logical reasoning
• One of the most educated men
at the time in Europe
• Also a man of the people
• Understood the power of the
people and used it to his
advantage
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Martin Luther:
Why did he Challenge the Church?
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“When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from
purgatory springs.” – saying attributed to Johann Tetzel
(famous seller of indulgences in Saxony)
Purgatory – place between heaven and hell where sins were
punished and the soul was “purified” before going to
heaven (mentioned for the first time in Church documents
in 1031 at the Council of Florence)
Indulgences – like “get out of sin cards” – given for money
paid by Christians to get rid of sin on earth and /or as a
means to lessen the number of days someone spent in
purgatory – could be purchased for others as well
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An Indulgence (1517) signed by Johann Tetzel
With the Authority of all Saints and with mercy for you, I free you of all
sins and crimes and excuse you from all punishments for ten days –
Johann Tetzel
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The 95 Theses (1517)
• 95 specific arguments against corruption in the
Catholic Church
• Written by Luther in response to Tetzel and
the selling of Indulgences in Saxony
• Romans 1:17 -- “He who through faith is
righteous shall live”
• Nailed to the door of the cathedral at
Wittenberg, Saxony (in the Holy Roman
Empire)
• Called for the Church to turn away from
corruption and indulgences
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What was the key to Luther’s Success?
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• He wrote in German language so the people could read
it (or have it read to them)
• His writings were published on the newly created
printing presses – allowed his message to be spread
quickly – thousands of copies of Luther’s 95 theses
were made and distributed all over Europe
• Brought the idea of salvation to the common people
• Church had been weakened in the eyes of many people
• Many German princes (especially Prince Fredrick of
Saxony) in the Holy Roman Empire stood by Luther
and against the pope – some for political and economic
reasons, others because they believed in Luther’s ideas
regarding salvation and they liked the idea of a
“German Church”
Luther’s Ideas
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• Justification (salvation) by faith alone with no “works” of any
kind necessary – one could not “earn” redemption by doing
good deeds
• The Bible is the word of God and therefore must be true –
anything outside the Bible is unnecessary
• Print the Bible in local languages so the people could read it
themselves (first non-Latin Bible will be in German in1522 – it
was dedicated to Prince Fredrick of Saxony)
• People needed to be educated so they could understand and read
the Bible – allows people to think for themselves and not just be
told what to do – this also opens the door for the education of
the people in other areas – citizens in “protestant” areas of
Europe will generally be more literate than in Catholic ones
well into the 20th century
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Calvinism – another interpretation of the Bible
John Calvin
▫ 16th century Swiss lawyer in Geneva
▫ Based his ideas on the Book of Revelation (14:1-3)
▫ Believed in Predestination and the “Elect” – only
144,000 going to heaven in the end
▫ Heavy influence on colonial Puritans and modern
Congregationalist churches of New England –
legacy is now part of the American idea of
supremacy (we’re God’s chosen people)
▫ Ideas also influenced Scottish Presbyterians
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English Reformation
part 1
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• Henry VIII (1509-1547)
▫ “Defender of the Faith” -- Opposed Luther and strongly
supported the Pope in 1517
▫ Married to Catherine of Aragon – marriage had been arranged
by Henry VII and Phillip II of Spain
▫ When Catherine failed to produce a male heir, Henry asked the
pope for a divorce – pope wouldn’t grant it (Charles V, the
emperor of the HRE , was Catherine’s uncle )
▫ Broke with the Roman Catholic Church and created the Church
of England (Protestant in name – Catholic in practice)
▫ Eventually had 6 wives – 1st three are really important (they
gave him legitimate children)
▫ Tradition says he had 150+ children (no way to get an exact
count as Henry really believed in sharing himself with his
female subjects)
▫ Only 3 of the children were legitimate (with Henry’s wives)
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St. Thomas More
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• Henry VIII’s Chancellor and
personal friend
• Perhaps the king’s closest
advisor before the split with
Rome
• Wrote extensively on matters of
government, philosophy and the
relationship between God and
Man
• Very Devout Catholic
• Refused to endorse Henry’s
decision to break with Rome
• Beheaded by Henry for treason
against the crown
• Made a saint by the Catholic
Church for standing by his faith
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English Reformation
part 2 – Henry’s Kids
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 Edward VI (1547-53)
hard line Lutheran
Very sick – lives only into his late teens
 Mary I (1553-58)
Daughter of Catherine of Aragon
Hard line Roman Catholic
Executes thousands of citizens who refuse to reconvert
Known in history as “Bloody Mary”
 Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Created a compromise church – The Anglican Church
Oath of allegiance to her as the head of the Church
Defeats the Spanish Armada in a great naval battle
(1588)
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Reformation Europe (Late 16c)
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Major Protestant Reformers
• Luther
▫ Northern Germanic Lands (H.R.E.)
▫ Justification by Faith Alone
• Calvin
▫ Swiss Lands -- influence in Scotland, France and the
Netherlands
▫ Ideas behind Predestination
• English
▫ England
▫ Henry VIII and his Kids
▫ Creation of the Anglican (English) Church
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Reformation
Europe
(Late 16c)
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Catholic (Counter) Reformation
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• Eventually the Catholic Church had to respond to the charges
leveled by Luther and other reformers
• Ignatius Loyola
▫ Spanish soldier and nobleman
▫ Founds the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1534
▫ Dedicated to absolute obedience to the pope, but also at the
forefront in cleaning up the Church – a reformation from within
the Church in response to Luther, Calvin and other Protestants
▫ Opened schools and colleges – was dedicated to teaching more
people to read both the bible and other works
▫ Emphasized a Classical Education (Greco-Roman) with faith
woven into the curriculum
▫ Jesuits and others succeeded in cleaning up the Church from
within – the Church maintains its reliance on “Faith through
Works” as the path to salvation
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St. Ignatius Loyola
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Thirty Years War
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• War between Catholics and Protestants (1618 to 1648)
• Culmination of a series of sporadic wars that first broke out in the
German lands during the time of Luther (1520s)
• Motives were political and economic as well, especially with the
Hapsburg family in the Austrian empire
• Brutal warfare with horrible atrocities on both sides – the most
destructive war in European history before the outbreak of World
War I in 1914 – millions were killed
• Forever shatters idea of religious unity in Germany
• Treaty of Westphalia (1648) – Catholic nations are forced to
recognize the existence of Protestant states (countries not-allied to
the pope) – this forever shatters Catholic unity and really damages
the authority of the pope, even with the remaining Catholic
countries of Europe
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1648 – A Watershed Year
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• Before 1648 – development of multinational states and empires
▫ Egyptian
Alexander the Great
▫ Persians
Carthaginians
▫ Romans
Byzantines
▫ Russians
Islamic Empires
▫ Latin Christendom (multiple nations under one pope)
• After 1648 – development and of nation-states (countries) based on the
different peoples of Europe – idea continues to today’s world
▫ On Europe’s edges – religion will help unify the people in a given
nation (France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, England) – anyone who
is not part of the nation’s religious tradition will need to leave – some of
this leads to colonization in the new world, where thousands will come
in search of religious choice (not necessarily religious freedom)
▫ In Central Europe – religion will not play a role in how to define the
people – thus “Germany” can not be created until the Germans
themselves solve the question of how to define their nation without
religion – it won’t happen until the 1870s
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Map of Europe in 1648 after Westphalia
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